Father of a Hero Part TWO: Secrets and Lies
by Ninja Daughter of Hermes
Summary: Back from where we left off, the half-bloods are granted sanctuary at the X-Mansion. Their enemy is one stronger then anyone they have ever encountered, their intentions TWICE as deadly.Takes place in X-Men Evo world, borrowing elements from the Movie
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: YO CHICAS AND CHOCOS! YA, IT'S UR FAV BROWN GIRL HERE! I MIGHT NOT UPDATE TILL APRIL, 'CAUSE IMMA BE OUT OF CANADA FOR A WHILE! SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE!**** Hi Earthlings!**

** DISCLAIMER:  
>NINJA: YO Jarvis, mind doing the disclaimer for me?<br>JARVIS: It would be my pleasure Miss. Ninja.  
>NINJA: (Grins in a psychotic manner)<br>JARVIS: Ninja Daughter of Hermes does not own P.J.O, Avengers, X-Men Evolution, X-men the Movie, or anything else in this story – except her OC's. Now, let us join the Avengers for a batch of cookies and pizza, while skydiving…**

**CHAPTER ONE  
><strong>  
><strong>ERICA'S P.O.V: <strong>  
>Pure chaos lay around them, as Erica tried to make sense of the scene she had been plunged into. Half-bloods were running everywhere, some being chased by men and women clad in black. The pieces began to come together, the moment she saw one of the "soldiers" grab hold of a small girl from the Hermes cabin. Her name was Lizzie – or at least that's what she preferred to be called. The last person who had called her by her real name had found their clothes caked with shaving cream. Still staring dumbly, Erica felt disorientation creep up on her, as she simply stood there, watching Lizzie scream and struggle to get free.<p>

_This couldn't be happening.  
><em>Camp-Half Blood, the safest place in the world for kids like her – HER most favorite place in the world – was being attacked. No, this wasn't supposed to happen.

Erica was snapped back to reality, the moment Travis wildly ran up to his sister, screaming wildly, sword in hand. The man continued fighting with Lizzie, ignoring Travis, and pulled out a gun. Screaming, and kicking even more wildly, a look of fear consumed Lizzie's face. Pulling the trigger, the man sent Lizzie into a twitching fit, as her tiny body began shaking.  
>He had just tasered her.<strong><strong>

Slinging the fragile body over his shoulder, the man dumped Lizzie into a nearby chopper. Travis chose this moment to attack. Running up to the man, he raised his sword – only to have the man lazily raise an arm and taser him – without even LOOKING around. As he crumpled to the ground, Erica only stared in confusion, as she felt someone drag her. Feeling like a zombie, she let the arm drag her into the safety of the woods behind. It wasn't until she jerked her head around that she realized that was Leo. "Hey, we've gotta run – as in RUN NOW!" he tugged on her arm, as she simply stood there. Frozen, Erica stumbled behind Leo as the duo ran on, Cassie trailing behind them.

As they ran on, Erica could feel her heart pounding in her chest. They had just been attacked. Camp-FREAKING-Half Blood had just been ATTACKED! "This is impossible," she said aloud, to no one in particular. "I thought that Camp was supposed to be impenetrable. How did they just get in here, manage to capture us, and just – urg!" she angrily kicked a nearby rock, which only moved about half a centimeter. Feeling her face red, she suddenly stopped running, nearly bumping into Leo. He spun around.  
>"WHAT?" Leo appeared to be flipping out "You do realize that we have ninjas CHASING us right?" "They're not ninjas genius." Cassie snapped. Leo gave her a sharp glare, as he once more grabbed hold of Erica's arm. "We've got to keep on running." he said, dismissing his anger, and calling upon his anxiety once more. "I really don't think it's possible for us to have lost them so easily." he looked around cautiously.<p>

Erica tightened her grip on the pistol on her belt, and pulled it out. Cassie's eyes became as huge as two large moons, as she hungrily eyes the golden pistol. "Don't even _think _about it." Erica said, realizing the daughter of the god of thieves was currently planning a theft. Cassie's shoulders slumped down in her sorrow. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots filled the air. Leo's eyes widened, as he grabbed hold of Erica's arm.  
>"Come on! We've got to go!"<br>Erica nodded like an idiot, and the trio began running deeper into the safety of the woods.

As they ran on, Erica began to realize WHERE they happened to be running. "Hey!" she yelled, causing everyone to stop once more. Leo spun around, and Cassie nearly crashed into him from behind. "We CAN'T stay in camp." Erica said slowly, in realization. "You really think it's possible for us to escape a bunch of armedintruders – and remain here?"  
>Leo's face drained of all emotion, as he seemed to take in what Erica had just said. Cassie nodded in agreement, and piped up. "Well, I guess we're going to have to get to Thalia's tree – without getting killed – escape – without getting killed – and look for a place to hide so we don't get killed."<p>

Leo stared at the young thief, an awkward expression on his face. "MUST you be a pemmisist?" he scowled – hint of fear in his voice, as if she'd struck a fear of shrugged, and began running once more, without saying a word.  
>It was like trying to keep up with the Flash. Cassie, being the daughter of Hermes, was like a speeding bullet, running at a fast pace.<em><em>_Before she knew it, Erica was exhausted, panting for air. That's when the first bullet came._

_Leo let out a strangled scream, as he fell to the ground. Now in panic mode, Erica felt adrenaline course through her veins as she grabbed hold of his shoulders, and tried dragging him along with her. She heard another bullet fire. As if computer-programmed, she immediately fell to the ground, and heard another scream. Craning her neck, she saw Cassie crumple to the floor. From the trees, emerged a black clad woman, with short hair, wearing what seemed like a uniform, a gun in her hand. The letters S.H.I.E.L.D were carefully stitched on her left sleeve. "Don't move kid. I don't want to hurt you." she said cautiously, taking what appeared to be a fighting stance. Had the situation not been so serious, Erica would've rolled her eyes. Yeah, holding a gun __definitely __made her seem harmless. So, she rolled her eyes anyways, and pulled out her gun, aiming it at the woman._

_"Can it Erica, we mean no harm." a familiar voice said cautiously. Nick Fury melted out of the shadows of the trees, a gun in his hand. His black eye patch seemed to glare daggers at her, but his "okay/non-screwed" eye seemed to be filled with caring. "What's going on?" Erica asked stupidly. That's when her danger instincts kicked in. "You just shot my friend! And that other chick – well she's not my fried, and I really don't know her – but still! And you just attacked CAMP! What's going on? Why are you doing this? HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE? Did Dad tell you?"  
>Nick simply let a look of apology slip over his face.<em>

_WHAT THE?_

_Erica understood the moment the bullet collided with her neck. Crumpling to the ground, she growled angrily. "Stupid bastard."  
>Nick shook his head, and the dark haired woman sprang to his side. "You know, Stark really needs to teach his kid how to mind her language." she said to him smirking, as if this weren't a horrible thing at ALL – shooting a defenseless kid (okay, maybe she was learning how to kick ass, but STILL).<br>Then everything went black._

_(SCENE CHANGE)_

_Opening her eyes, Erica was blinded by a bright light. Groaning, she snapped them back shut. Opening them again, she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps pacing back and forth. Letting out another pain stricken groan, she propped herself up onto an elbow, and sat up. The room she was in seemed to be all white, and white beds sat all around her, identical to the one she was sitting in. Only, they happened to be filled with kids. Kids she knew. Kids from CAMP._

_She immediately jumped out of bed, and bolted to her feet. Immediately, pain shot up her legs, making them feel like jell-o. Her knees buckled, and she grabbed hold of her bed to steady herself. Shakily getting up, she took a glance at the kids around her, on separate beds. She had the urge to bolt out the door and escape – but she was frozen. They were her FAMILY. She couldn't just LEAVE them. Guilt took over Erica, as she simply ran out the door._

_Still running, she found herself navigating the compelling systems of hallways which constructed the building she was imprisoned in. Suddenly, a loud sound of heavy footsteps hit her ears. She immediately bolted behind the wall to her left. Back pressed against the wall, she closed her eyes, and stood there, holding her breath. A brief second passed, and she mustered the courage to look around the corner. She saw two men, clad in black uniforms, walking down the hallway. They seemed to be deeply engaged in conversation. Suddenly, one man looked up as his wristwatch – which happened to be beeping. Erica bit back a scream, as she found herself recognizing his face.  
>It was Coulson.<br>UNCLE Coulson was here! Coulson let out a sigh, as he slammed his hand onto his watch. "Duty calls." he shrugged his shoulders to his buddy, and spun around. His shoes made a soft clacking sound against floor, which echoed in the silent hallway. Erica let out a breath as the other man shook his head, and began walking down the opposite direction. Towards HER. Thinking fast, she grabbed a nearby "the floor is wet" sign. Well, whaddya know? Even bad guys need those things. Good thing too, because she was in great need of its services. Grabbing the sign, Erica held it in her hand – ready to strike. The man came around the corner, and Erica stuck without hesitation. He flew towards the wall, but regained his balance at the last moment. Trying to get up, his face slammed against the sign. Erica repeatedly slammed the sign against his body – right, left, right left. She then slammed it against his body, as he tried to fight back, repeating the same pattern._

_The man grabbed hold of her arm, and slammed her body against the wall. Still holding onto her sign, Erica spun around and slammed it against the man's face once more – only sending it an "upper-cut-with-a-sign", sending his jaw up. She then slammed it down on his head, sending his head down. The man then grabbed Erica's arm, and held it against her back. His voice whispered into her ear. "Easy kiddo. I DON'T wanna hurt you."  
>STILL holding onto her dear friend the wet floor sign, Erica held it up, slamming it into the man's face. The man's body crumpled to the floor, and blood trickled out of his mashed nose which Erica had just broken. Erica reached down into his pocket to pull out his gun. Make than BOTH his guns. She smirked, and continued running down the hallway.<em>

_As she ran on, Erica felt a voice whisper into her head.__  
>"No not there."<em>_ It said.  
>HUH?<br>"__Go left." __it hissed.  
>Still confused, Erica did the exact opposite, fearing for her life. Holding onto her guns, she came up to a door. Not knowing what possessed her, she held her gun high – and kicked it open._

_Stretching her arms wide in opposite directions, Erica aimed both guns towards random targets.  
>WHAT THE?<em>

_Tony sat in a nearby chair at a table, along with the other Avengers. They ALL happened to be suited up. Alongside them, sat Nick, Coulson, and the dark haired woman from earlier. Not to mention Aunt NATASHA? Growling, fast as a viper, Erica aimed her pistol towards the dark haired woman, pressing the pistol against her forehead. "What's going on?" she hissed._

_Tone shifted uncomfortably in his suit. Nick abruptly got up, and pulled out a chair. "Have a seat kid." he said bluntly.  
>Erica, cautiously pulling her gun off the woman's forehead, slipped into her chair.<br>"Leave Maria alone would you?" Tony whispered. "I hate her too –" the dark-haired woman she now knew as Maria growled "but you just have to bear it." Tony gulped, as Maria shot him a death glare._

_Fury slammed his hand on a button on the table, and a holographic projector emerged, from it sprouted a 3-d image/map of Camp. Erica's jaw dropped. "How-how'd y-y-you?"  
>Nick Fury smirked. "Your dad ever tell you about his <em>_sloppy work__ with S.H..D?"  
>Tony simply stared at Fury. "How am I SLOPPY in my work with you people?" he threw his hands in the air. "Unbelievable!" he shook his head. "Apparently I am the lazy one NOW!"<br>Erica still, unfazed by her dad's obvious attempt to make her smile, stared at him, waiting for an explanation on his work with S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick sighed, and took the opportunity to begin talking._

_(SCENE CHANGE)_

_"So on what grounds did S.H.I.E.L.D find it necessary to PENENTRATE CAMP?" Erica hissed, once Nick had explained all S.H.I.E.L.D to her. Tony and the other Avengers interrupted occasionally to explain their involvement, something which made Fury go all Hulk with rage. Looking at Erica, Fury ran a hand over his head – which was stupid considering how he had no hair. "I explained about A.I.M somewhere down the line – didn't I?" he looked at Erica, a question like look on his face._

_Erica nodded slowly.  
>"As you know, S.H.I.E.L.D has been involved in secret matters for a pretty long time. No, I am not telling you HOW long. Mutants, Half-Bloods – you name it. We've been doing cover stories for you guys since we learned your world was real. You know that kid, Percy Jackson? Yeah, WE were the ones who wiped away the assumption that he was a terrorist. Heck, WE created that lie." he chuckled to himself, something Erica found creepy. "Anyways," he continued, his face growing solemn, as if attending a funereal. "We've gotten some recent info from a couple of uh, <em>_friends __at A.I.M and H.Y.D.R.A that the two just so happen to be working together. Even more, is the fact that we just so happen to have a mole at home here as S.H.I.E.L.D." After the last part, Erica felt Tony squeeze her hand protectively._

_"They got the breaking news on half-bloods." Tony said his voice hollow and bitter. "H.Y.D.R.A has an unhealthy obsession with illegal experiments, cloning and mutations A.I.M ha an unhealthy obsession with off-limits knowledge, and has the same interests as H.Y.D.R.A. The moment they found out about half-bloods…" his voice tailed off, as it began to choke. He tightened his grip on Erica's hand. Erica simply stared at her dad dumbly, trying to process what he had just said.  
>"Wait," she said slowly in realization, "You're telling me they're experimenting on us?" he voice was laced with venom and horror. Nick, and all the other Avengers grimly nodded – some of them with their eyes glued to the floor.<br>"So why'd you attack Camp?" Erica asked suspiciously. Tony looked up at her, his face growing darker. "Because WE didn't attack Camp, we were just there to evacuate you guys. A.I.M and H.Y.D.R.A decided to have a field trip at Camp, and they brought home a couple souvenirs."_

_"Well," Erica said angrily, glaring at Maria. "That __definitely __explains why I got knocked out!" the sarcasm was dripping in her voice like venom.  
>The S.H.I.E.L.D agent simply rolled her eyes in return, with Coulson shifting uncomfortably in the background. For the first time in her life, Erica actually witnessed her dad give her a warning look.<br>__"So, what now?" Erica said, swiftly changing the subject. "Where do all the demigods go now? I can very well go home – but __they__ can't exactly stay at S.H.I.E.L.D, can they?"  
>Nick held a brief trace of a smirk on his face. "We've found a safe place for them to blend in for the time being."<br>Despite his slight easy going attitude on display – Erica refused to buy it. "What do you mean by safe place?" she fired back at him. "Do you honestly believe it's possible to hold a bunch of psycho kids with ADHD and dyslexia in a __safe haven__? Who would be stupid enough to even try?"_

_"I believe I would." a calm, British accented male voice came from the doorway._

_Jerking her head behind her, Erica saw a bald man in a wheelchair roll into the room, a white haired woman with icy blue eyes pushing his wheelchair. Logan walked beside the man's wheelchair – as if protecting him. It was Professor Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine. The X-Men were apparently going to be keeping the half-bloods safe. Erica resisted the urge to run and wrap her arms around her favorite uncle (Logan). Instead, she stood there dumbly. "You've got to be kidding me." she simply said._

_(SCENE CHANGE)  
><strong>TONY'S P.O.V: <strong>_

_Apparently, Tony thought it would be wiser to keep Erica with the other demigod at the X-Mansion.  
>NOT.<em>

_No matter what Logan had said, or what the Professor creepily whispered into his mind, there was no way he was letting his kid out of his sight. Not now. Not ever. Looking behind him, where Erica sat behind him in the car, Tony felt an instant protective feeling, as he stole a glance at the Latino kid at the back sitting with Erica. The horse dude – what was his name? Started with a C – had decided it would be best for their best architect/builder to learn a couple of skills via Tony. Hence, he would be keeping the crazy fan-boy under his roof for a while. Funny, he remembered a blond chick with grey eyes grab the Latino by the collar to strangle him at that. She looked pretty jealous of him.  
>Good for him.<em>

_Tony growled as he saw how the two seemed to be sitting quite close together, as if super-glued. "You know," he said calmly as possible "that it's really hard for Happy to see at the BACK. How about Valdez goes left, and Erica goes right?"  
>"It's not hard for m –" Happy protested, but got cut off by Tony's death glare.<br>Still, the kids got away from each other. Finally satisfied, Tony turned back around. His anger returned, when they got home, and her found Erica's sleeping form leaning on Leo, and his head resting on her shoulder. So, he stole a glance to make sure no one was looking, and quickly pulled Erica away from Valdez before waking them up. Gently nudging Erica, he let her walk into the house with Happy. He then slammed his hand against Valdez's arm. The kid let out a strangled yelp, as he groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Two more minutes Nyssa." he mumbled, swatting Tony away with his hand. "Tell Chiron I'm getting ready."  
>Tony rolled his eyes, went up to the front seat, and slammed his hand on the radio, blasting the music to its full extent. The kid screamed, and fell off the seat – and onto the driveway. Smiling sweetly Tony stared at the kid innocently. "We're here." he said cheerfully.<em>

_**CASSIE'S P.O.V:  
><strong>(AT THE X-MANSION) ****_

_As the X-Jet fell into the basketball court; all sense of excitement was doubled within the daughter of Hermes. The guy, the bald dude, he looked pretty rich. Might even have a couple of things worth __borrowing__ for a while. Her chain of thoughts broke, as she, along with the final batch of demigods collected, were herded into a tiny elevator. Cassie cowered under the dark haired man's – the guy called Wolverine – gaze. "Don't steal, do not TOUCH, and do not screw up ANYTHING." he growled, his eyes fixed on Cassie. She let out a breath of relief as the doors opened.  
>"Try anything stupid, do anything stupid, or simply show that you are stupid – and I will have you in the Danger room for your entire stay, daily, every morning and evening. Got it?"<br>Everyone shakily nodded their heads._

_Cassie had a feeling that whatever the Danger Room was – it would be nothing like training sessions under Clarisse. Heck, it sounded MUCH worse._

_They were herded into what seemed like the family room. Inside, were the bald dude, the kin white haired chick, and six other kids. There was a brunette guy with red tinted sunglasses and a Commando look about him, a Mary-Sueish looking redhead, a dark haired chick who seemed to be high on drugs (explaining her crazed smile), a guy who was low-riding (and looked horrible at it), and a guy who seemed to be from the Underworld. Literally. She resisted the urge to yelp, as the boy noticed her staring at him. The boy let a sad look slip on his face, as he slammed a hand onto his watch. Immediately, his blue fur went to a normal person's skin, and his yellow eyes went brown. Cassie immediately felt guilt overcome her._

_Cassie suddenly noticed a pale skinned girl, with red hair and white highlight, hovering uncomfortably by the door. The bald dude seemed to be aware of her presence. "Come on in Rogue." he said kindly.  
>The girl – Rogue – hesitant at first, slowly got into the room, and took a seat next the guy who had been wearing the demonic look earlier. The boy slipped his hand into her gloved one, as if protecting her in a brotherly manner. "Now," the bald man rolled up to face the demigods. "As you all know, my name is Professor Xavier. To those of you who do not remember – I am not the <em>_bald dude__."_

_Cassie felt her face turn red, something which made the Professor chuckle. "I will not tell WHOSE mind I heard this from, but should that person forget my name; they can simply call me Professor. As you all know, you will be granted sanctuary at my school for mutants, but you will be treated as students here. This means you will be participating in classes along with the other children, based on your __skills __or __gifts__. This also means I will expect you to be on your best behavior on your stay here. Any misbehaving will result in punishment. You will be like the rest of my children here; which means being up on time, as well as being back at the Mansion before dark."_

_The Professor continued ranting on about the rules of the school, while Cassie felt herself zone out. It wasn't her fault really. You can't exactly expect an ADHD demigod to hear a guy rant on about stupid rules. THEY ARE RULES. Rules are made – because they are __meant to be broken!__ What's the point of listening when you're not going to follow them anyways?_

_The Professor seemed to notice the amount of demigods listening. That population happened to be ZERO. Not even his senior students seemed to be listening. Except for Mr. Shades-Commando and Miss. Mary-Sue. Even the Wolverine guy was zoning out, staring intently as his claws – which he happened to be using as a fork for his apple. Instead, the Professor began listing the roommates the demigods would be bunking with. Cassie came last, and found herself staring at her roommate. The creepy Mary-Sue. Rogue seemed to be hiding a smirk, as she walked out, noticing the brief trace of Cassie's horrified expression. "Good luck." she said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Little Miss. Perfect 'aint so easy to bear."_

_For some reason, she knew she and Rogue would have a lot to talk about. Starting with their hatred of Mary-Sues._

_Jean grinned freakishly; as she cheerfully kicked open the door to her room, his glossy red hair looking __oh so perfect__. "So, I guess you'll be taking this bed." she gestured to the world's biggest bed. At least for her mom, a cop, had been killed on duty, one of her older half-brothers had found her, and had brought her to Camp, where she'd been living in the crowded Hermes cabin ever since. Jean pointed to a small strip of space in the room. "This is where you can keep your stuff, or lay them out." Not waiting for a reply, the Mary-Sue quickly left the room, her glossy red hair rippling down her back._

_The ironic part? The space given to her was 1/3 of the entire room. Sure it was HUGE, but 2 thirds of this HUGE room belonged to Jean. Hoarder much?  
>Sighing, Cassie, went on to inspecting Jean's stuff. Might be something worth stealing from the little overgrown bratty princess.<em>

_**LEO'S P.O.V:  
><strong>  
>Leo Valdez didn't know why, but he was getting the feeling that Tony Stark didn't really like him much. He had noticed Tony growling like an angry bear gone drunk throughout the entire trip to the manor. Every time he tried to get closer to Erica, the volume of the growling would somehow increase even more. All he wanted to do was to TALK to the chica! Okay, so maybe it was something a tad bit too personal, this is why he kind of had to get closer to her. It was the kiss.<br>THERE HE SAID IT!  
>Well, thought it actually.<em>

_He had actually had his first kiss – with Eric none the less – and had gotten shot AND drugged AND kidnapped on the SAME DAY, without even having a chance to THINK about it! Heck, he hadn't even gotten any feedback from Erica on it! Okay, so maybe her punch explained most of her feelings – but she HAD KISSED HIM BACK! What was he supposed to translate THAT as?_

_Leo felt Tony glare at him, as he sat across from him in the living room. He had been asking him question, asking him to explain his freaking life-story, while the guy used his computer as a lie detector to see if he was telling the truth.  
>"So," the superhero said, getting up. "How do you know my kid?"<br>Leo almost wet his pants from the venom in his voice, and the way his was creepily staring at him. Not to mention the fact that he was pointing to the kitchen knife which FOR SOME ODD REASON happened to be within Tony's reach.  
>"Ugh, I was the guy in the warehouse; you know I even talked to you and stuff…" Leo's voice trailed off, as he suddenly began feeling extra stupid.<br>Tony nodded stiffly. "Oh right. You were the maniac who was freaking out over there being no food."  
>Leo turned red, as he remembered himself freaking out about there being no food in the chopper that evacuated them. He WAS hungry!<em>

_Tony then seemed to change his mind about interrogating him. "I'll show you to your room." he said bluntly, motioning for Leo to follow. Leo stiffly kept a hand on his hammer, ready to fling it at his idol, should he decide to kill him, and began to walk SLOWLY behind him. Tony pushed open the door to the room on the third floor. "This," he said cheerfully "is your __room __for now. __Erica__ will be up on the first floor, sleeping in HER room, which just so happens to be beside mine. Your roommate will be a close friend of mine – known as the Hulk."_

_Leo's jaw dropped, as a smirking Tony left the room. "You start school tomorrow," he said pausing at the door. "So you should be up by seven. Otherwise, the pancakes will not be spared for you." he left the room._

_**TONY'S P.O.V:**_

_Tony smirked, as he remembered the hidden warning he had given to Valdez. The look on his face! Priceless!  
>His smirk vanished, as he remembered the files he had found from hacking into A.I.M. The demigods they happened to be interested into experimenting and studying on, they had a list of the top twenty. Erica was number TEN on that list. A kid of Eris was a rare thing to find – all the more reason to be interested. Good thing he was calling all the Avengers back at the mansion. And he was definitely NOT letting her get taken away from him.<br>Not again.  
><em>

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**AYTHOR'S NOTE: Hi Earthlings!  
>DISCLAIMER:<br>NINJA: YO Jarvis, mind doing the disclaimer for me?  
>JARVIS: It would be my pleasure Miss. Ninja.<br>NINJA: (Grins in a psychotic manner)  
>JARVIS: Ninja Daughter of Hermes does not own P.J.O, Avengers, X-Men Evolution, X-men the Movie, or anything else in this story – except her OC's.<br>NINJA: THANK YOU J.A.R.V.I.S**

**CHAPTER TWO  
><strong>  
><span>**TONY'S P.O.V:**

It was almost one thirty in the morning, and Tony still couldn't sleep. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Erica was safe tonight. He had been awake in case. Just in case.

Chugging done yet another mug of coffee-fused-vodka, he turned towards the pile of blueprints sitting on his bed. They were already perfected, without a flaw. But he still forced his eyes to scan the paper over and over, time after time, for the sake of it keeping him awake. Sighing for about the tenth time that night – or the first time that day - , he slid off his bed, and began pacing through his room. He refused to sleep. Not now, not ever. For all he knew, a crazed A.I.M or H.Y.D.R.A person could be trying to break in right now. No, he couldn't sleep. Not if he wanted Erica to ever be safe.

He jumped as the sound of a blood curling shriek filled his ears. Heart pounding, fear flooded his heart. Running next door, he saw a sleeping Erica, a look of twisted pain on her face. He let out a breath of relief. Just a nightmare.

Erica twitched in pain, as her head jerked violently in opposite directions, as if fighting off the demons within her mind. Tony awkwardly stood in the doorway, not sure of what to do. The moonlight coming from Erica's window shone on her face, defining the scar which ran from her right temple and down to her lower lip. The scar was still there, and it would be months until it disappeared. Not knowing what possessed him; Tony walked towards her, and sat onto her bed. Gingerly touching her scar, he let his hand trace the angry red line which dug into her skin. It was a long, thin jagged line, which ran over her lips, and her right eye.  
>Erica's eyebrows got scrunched together, as if aware of his presence.<p>

He sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. Erica let out a painful scream, as she turned over in her sleep. Her screaming fit continued, as her head jerked uncontrollably in opposite directions, like she was trying to fight off her nightmare. Frantically planting a kiss on her forehead to try and calm her down, Tony continued running his hand through Erica's hair. "It's okay. I'm here. You're safe." he murmured to her soothingly. She seemed to relax, and stopped fighting, as Tony continued repeating those same words, over and over again, like a mantra.

The tension remained on her face. Still running his hand soothingly through Erica's hair, Tony felt himself grow calm, his worries for his kid's life go get put to rest. It was like petting a cat almost. Only it was his daughter.  
>And Tony hated cats.<p>

His hand went back to tracing her scar. He planted a kiss on top of her right eye, where the red line had made its mark, and traced the mark over her face. He flinched, remembering how she had obtained the scar. The memories attacked him, flooding his mind, as he remembered their imprisonment. He shook his head, locking those memories away. He wasn't putting her through this again. Not now, not ever.

**LEO'S P.O.V:  
><strong>  
>Leo simply sat on his bed, hugging his knees in pure fear, as he stared at his roommate. It was six thirty in the morning, and he had woken up at five, due to Hulk's snoring. Did he mention the fact that the guy had just THREATENED him to stay away from Erica?<strong> What was he, a serial killer?<strong>

Letting out a moan, he slipped out of his room, and ran into the kitchen, Might as well keep himself occupied with food. Shoveling ice-cream into his mouth like a madman, he suddenly stopped – holding his spoon full of ice-cream an inch away from his face. He turned towards the doorway to see Erica staring at him. "You know," she said slowly "you really need to learn how to have a REAL breakfast." she yanked open the fridge door, and pulled out a bottle of syrup. She threw it towards Leo. "Makes it taste better." she smirked.

The both sat in awkward silence, staring at each other from across the table, shoveling spoonfuls of ice-cream into their mouths. "So," Leo said slowly "What do you think of what happened in the cabin?"  
>Erica's eyes widened in realization, but she tried to act clueless. "What do you mean?" she asked, playing around with her spoon. "You know, the, <em>you KNOW<em>, _thing_." Leo said, his face turning red. Erica's face turned red as well. "What thing?"  
>"The KISS!" Leo exclaimed in frustration.<br>"You attacked me!" Erica hissed.  
>"But you KISSED ME BACK!" Leo fired back at her.<br>"I WAS POSSESSED!" Erica screamed.  
>"BY WHO?" Leo said in disbelief.<br>"BY BRUICE WILLIS DAMN IT!" Erica shrieked.

That was when the room fell silent again. Leo awkwardly sat a bit closer towards Erica, and leaned in towards her. Her eyes were kind of pretty, like deep pools of violet. He found himself staring at how her hair fell around her shoulders. It was pretty messy, but in a pretty kind of way. Huh, she was kind of cute. He was seized by the urge to just lean in NEXT TO HER FACE, and just…  
>Suddenly, Erica noticed him leaning in, staring at her. "HOLY FRIKETY-FRAKITY-FREW!" she shrieked, flinching back.<br>"Chill, just getting your bowl for you." **(Hey that rhymed :D)** Good cover up.  
>Leo grabbed Erica's empty bowl, and dumped it in the sink, along with his own. Sitting back down, he awkwardly stared at Erica, with her looking back at him. Suddenly, the loud sound of someone clearing their throat filled the room.<p>

Leo turned around to see Tony standing in the doorway, a venomous look being shot at Leo. His eyes appeared bloodshot, as if he'd been up all night. Probably working on some invention. Leo mentally pouted. Lucky guy gets to work all night long building stuff.  
>"So, you're already up, huh?" Tony said casually. Not waiting for a reply, Tony nodded his head, his hair (which was sticking up in different places all over his head) flopping back and forth. "Great." he took a seat beside Leo, nearly giving the Latino a heart attack. Leo noticed Erica smirking in the distance, beside Leo of course. She then abruptly got up, and left the room.<br>"Valdez," Tony hissed venom in his voice.  
>"Yes s-s-sir?" Leo squeaked.<br>"STAY _away _from my daughter. GOT IT?" Leo nodded shakily, as Tony motioned towards the door. "You can leave now. I don't want you going all fan-boy now. You scare me. Get lost."

As he grabbed his bag from "his room", Leo felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around, his gaze met Erica's.  
>"The answer to your question," she said smirking "is not that bad."<br>"What do you mean?" Leo asked cautiously. Leaning in, Erica's voice whispered into his ear. "You're not that bad of a kisser." She leaned away, and smirked even wider at Leo's dumbfounded expression, and left the room. 

**ERICA'S P.O.V:**

****To say the truth, she wasn't really sure where those words had come from. And why she had the strange urge to kiss Valdez. Erica shuddered. No, not one more minute of this craziness. _Don't worry; it's just a couple of things you get from your dad and me. _A voice whispered at the back of her mind. Then it became empty again.  
>Gee, thanks for the advice Mom.<p>

Walking down the hallway, Erica couldn't help but feel her heart pounding her chest. Okay, so MAYBE he was a LITTLE cute. Or a lot. Okay, so Valdez was hot.  
>There, she said it.<br>Oh what was the world coming to?

Entering the living room once more, Erica noticed Leo sitting beside Tony. Her dad held a scowl on his face, while Leo held a look of absolute fear. Erica couldn't help but smirk at Tony's hostility towards her crush. Wait, did she just think CRUSH? Oh no…

As Happy drove up to the school, Erica noticed Leo nervously drumming his fingers on his lap. She slammed her hand on top of his. "Stop that." she snapped. Leo started stomping his feet to the SAME beat, humming along with the tune this time. Erica rolled her eyes, and gave up. From the front seat, Erica noticed Tony growling in Leo's direction. Happy seemed to be amused by his hostility, as he had the briefest trace of a grin on his face. 

Opening her locker, Erica noticed Leo awkwardly trying to figure out his schedule. And for some odd reason their lockers were beside each others. Grabbing his arm, she led him off to the one of three classes they had together.

Inside the classroom, Erica recognized a couple of Xavier's student near the back, shunned by the "normal humans". Okay, so maybe being a half-blood had helped her know what it was like. Avoiding the stares, she dragged Leo behind her, and took a seat behind Cassie, and the New Mutant Magma.

Later that day, she noticed something awkward. There weren't that many half-bloods at school today. And more than one hundred had been evacuated. Where were they?  
>Something was wrong.<br>She was sure of it.

****  
><strong>CASSIE'S P.O.V:<br>**Cassie felt plain awkward running down the halls of the X-mansion. Considering how they were STILL repairing the damages from after the explosion, all the students lacked quite a bit of privacy, as the ALL slept on the same floor, crammed into tiny rooms. Cassie curiously eyed Logan's bike from the window. Looked kind of pricy. Maybe even fun to use for a joyride…  
>Logan growled at her, and she gave a shaky grin. "Hiya Mr. Logan."<br>Not waiting for a reply, she ran outside to catch Cyclops/Scott's car. His car was JUST leaving the driveway, with the lucky mix of mutants and demigods, when Cassie noticed it was full. "Sorry." Jean shrugged her shoulders, as the car sped out of the mansion's gates.

That's when she noticed Logan's bike. With Rogue on it, and Night-crawler/Kurt's arms around his (she now knew this) sister's waist. Rogue smirked apologetically, and sped out. Sighing, Cassie went on to walking instead. Careful, as to see that no one was watching her, she got ready to run. And so she ran. 

Cassie was faster than most people. Like FAST, FLASH fast. Not even exaggerating. It was a gift, kind of like Valdez's fire abilities. Only, she was the first kid of Hermes to have it. Zooming up to the school, she jumped out of the bushes, hoping no one would notice. She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around. Staring down at her was an older looking boy, with silver hair. "Hey," he smirked "you're the new X-geek, right?"  
>Cassie smirked back at him. "Yeah." she patted her pocket where she now kept the boy's stolen wallet. "You know, you don't really look like an X-Geek to me." the boy mused, scratching his head. "More like Brotherhood material."<br>Cassie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What exactly IS this Brotherhood?"

After that wonderful day of hanging out at school with Pietro and his gang, Cassie walked into the X-Mansion – only to be aware of the glares shot at her. Scott sent her a look of disgust, while the others dared not to meet her gaze.

"I can't believe you actually hung out with those jerks." Evan rolled his eyes, while he shot spikes at the wall.  
>"What, just because YOU are rivals, it means I can't befriend them?" Cassie snapped "It's not like they're the Masters of Evil or anything."<br>she heard Logan mutter something like "You have no idea." as he left the room. 

**LEO'S P.O.V:  
><strong>

The two were currently working on some random project from school. It involved writing stuff – as well as building. So, using their brains (or the amount of brains they had) Leo had gone to building, and Erica had given a shot at writing. Of course frustration came out, and the dyslexic demigoddess slammed her pen on the floor. "URG!" she screamed, entering Hulk mode. "STUPID DYSLEXIA HATES ME! I CAN'T WRITE!"  
>She reached down for her pen, but Leo beat her to it. He got on his knees, and picked up the shiny SILVER pen. He held it in his hands, like a ring, as he gave it too her. "Here." he said, the pen lay out in his palm.<p>

**TONY'S P.O.V:  
><strong>Landing on the balcony, Tony peered in the window to see Valdez on his knees. In front of Erica. With a silvery thing in his hand.  
>Eyes widening in realization, Tony held up one arm (he was in the suit) and sent a blast towards Valdez, sending him ten feet away from Erica. Flying in, he lifted the kid from the collar of his (or her, judging from his high pitched screaming), and shot up into the air. The kid was screaming his head off.<br>"WHAT WERE YOU DOING?" Tony screamed at him.  
>"N-nothing I SWEAR IT ON THE STYX!" Leo screamed. Thunder boomed above. His hair rippled from the winds (as he was being shot up more than two stories high, at uncontrollable speeds).<p>

Tony was full on ticked off. "WHAT'S WITH THE RING YOU *##$%%!"  
>"What ring?" Valdez held up a silver pen. "I was giving her her PEN back!"<br>Tony's eyes widened in realization. "Oh." he said bluntly. "Sorry."  
>He let go of Leo's shirt, his hand <em>slipping<em>.

High-pitched screams filled the air, as Leo fell towards the ground. Erica's voice filled the suit. "DAD! He's gonna DIE! You've got to SAVE him, before he becomes the world's first Latino pancake!"  
>Tony moaned.<br>"Do I HAVE to?" he moaned, flying up to the window to meet Erica's gaze. She held a cell phone in hand, glaring daggers at him.  
>"YES!" she screamed.<br>"_FINE!"_ He grumbled, speeding towards Valdez.  
>At that moment it began to rain. Heavily.<p>

**LEO'S P.O.V:  
><strong>  
>An hour later, Leo sat shivering, a blanket around his shoulders. Apparently it JUST HAD TO start raining. Erica slipped beside him, and shoved a mug of hot-chocolate into his hands. Leo chugged down the warm substance immediately. "Tastes different." he mused.<p>

"I added a spoonful of nectar to help take away the cold." she shrugged her shoulders.  
>"Thanks." Leo said slowly, setting the empty mug on the table. He let out a sneeze. Erica jumped back.<p>

"Sorry." Leo wiped his nose with his sleeve. Erica sat back down, and sat closer towards him. She pressed a hand to his forehead, sending tingles where her hand touched his skin.  
>"Got a fever alright." she mused, her eyebrows scrunching close together. "Ha ha, lots of homework for you!" she leaned back on her chair, as she kept on laughing. Seriously, what's with this chica and making fun of people? Erica continued laughing; talking about how hard it would be to catch up at school. Suddenly, Leo began to wonder if HE REALLY was the one sick. I mean, he was facing a girl who clearly had ISSUES. Was this even SAFE?<p>

Leo rolled his eyes. Suddenly, silence flooded the room. He felt Erica's eyes staring at him. They were kind of pretty. Deep shade of purple, so deep he felt like he was drowning in them. And her hair looked real nice, the way it fell over her shoulders. Messy, but cute. Heck, SHE was _kind _of cute.  
>Not knowing what the fire truck possessed him, he leaned foreword, until their noses were almost touching. Then, he got even closer, his eyes closed until his lips crushed against hers. Leo felt his ears go red, as he realized that it was kind of hard to keep his face from shaking, as he was STILL shivering from his cold. In that awkward moment, he cupped his hands around Erica's face, in order to well, keep her from turning into a bobble-head.<p>

As weird as it sounded, he kind of liked how Erica's lips felt against his. Tasted like cinnamon.  
>Yes, weird, but he somehow found himself liking it.<p>

**ERICA'S P.O.V:**

At that awkward moment, Erica felt her insides screaming, telling her to punch Valdez. But she was frozen, like, FROZEN. And for some reason, despite the fact he had a fever, his hot lips felt, surprisingly, well, GOOD.  
>There she said it.<p>

Oh boy was her mind screwed. Like MEGA screwed. She felt Leo's clammy hands cupped around her face, but despite how, well COLD they felt, she didn't back off. She didn't want to. She kind of liked how they felt around her face. Sent little tingles down her spine. And she liked it. Still frozen, she didn't move, or make an attempt to back away. Neither did Leo.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards them filled her ears. She quickly broke the kiss, and leaned back into her chair. At that moment, Leo let out a loud sneeze, and wiped his nose with his sleeve. Boy was she glad she ended that kiss fast. Otherwise there would be snot in her mouth. Although it WOULD have been nice if it had been just a WEE bit longer.

(I'm Canadian, in case anyone asks. I read a book set during the early days when Canada was first discovered, and one of the characters I love is Scottish. He's had me hooked up on the word "wee" ever since.)

They both stared at each other awkwardly, both their faces going red, as the sounds of the footsteps in the hallway got louder. Tony emerged from the doorway, a grim look on his face, and venom being shot at Leo. "Erica I'm going out. I might be gone for a couple of days." he said bluntly, still glaring at Leo. "So promise me NOT to anything stupid, and to stay home at all times. I've arranged for you to get all your homework done at home for the time being. Pepper will be at home in case you need anything, an of course you've got J.A.R.V.I.S. And Rhodey will be here in an hour or two."  
>"Let me guess, Iron Man stuff?" Erica said bitterly, realizing her dad would be gone AGAIN.<p>

Tony smirked as if glad to be back into business again. Even though it had been just this morning that he'd caught another villain. But it was the tensed look in his eyes that got to her. _What was going on? _  
>"You know it." Tony grinned, and spun around, and went downstairs to suit up. Just like that. Without as much of a goodbye or something.<p>

**CASSIE'S P.O.V:**

Later that night, Cassie crept out of bed, and slowly used the old stuffing-pillow-under-covers-to-look-like-body trick. Ugh, she HAD to get out of here. The people here had WAY too many rules, and rules she did not like. They were too WAY restraining. Slowly slipping on her jacket, she shut the door behind her, as she crept out into the hallway. She had to think. And in order to think, she had to be outside. Walking carefully on the floor, Cassie held her boots in hand, careful not to have her bare feet make any sound. Finally reaching the window near the "kitchen" (a.k.a, Beast's office, and Logan's detention room) she opened the window. Slipping outside, she took a gulp of the fresh midnight air. 

Cold and crisp. It felt haunting, yet adventurous. Slipping her boots on, she began to walk out into the woods. She checked her watch. An hour or two outside wouldn't hurt anyone.

**BOBBY'S (Iceman, he's an X-Man) P.O.V:**

Letting out a loud yawn, Bobby groaned as he sat upright in his bed. Kurt/Nightcrawler, his room-mate on the top bunk, had managed to have yet another nightmare, and the result was tossing things around the room in his sleep with his tail. He let out a yelp, as a water bottle managed to hit him over the head. He checked his watch, and groaned. Two thirty. Stuffing his pillow over his head, he tried to sleep.

A loud crash soon interrupted his attempts to enter dream-world. Angier than the Hulk, Bobby slipped out of bed, and opened the bedroom door. Walking down the hallway, he heard another crash. Something was wrong. He just knew it. Walking up to the kitchen, he saw nothing. Until his foot hit something.

Looking down at his feet, he resisted the urge to scream. On the floor, lay the unmoving body of Laura Kinney, a.k.a X-23, Wolverine's clone, and adopted daughter. Though she had just joined the Institute, it was kind of obvious how highly trained she was by H.Y.D.R.A. And yet she was at the floor, unconscious. Someone had managed to knock her out. HER, X-23, a highly trained ex-assassin.  
>Pure fear flooded Bobby's soul, as he noticed the dart buried deep into her neck. Poisoned no doubt, but considering her healing factor, it would only leave her knocked out for a while.<p>

That's when realization struck his thick-headed thinking skills. Someone was here.  
>An intruder.<p>

Bobby did the only thing he could think of. Running down to the room closest to him, he yanked open the door to Jean's room. She was a telepath. She could easily warn everyone without the intruder knowing.  
>But her unmoving body was currently sprawled on the floor.<p>

Bobby shot a blast of ice towards a shadow. He kicked aside the closet door, to reveal a figure clad in black, iced to the wall. Oh no…  
>That wasn't good, considering how the idiot had the H.Y.D.R.A logo stitched across his chest. <p>

Suddenly, he cupped his hands over his ears, as an ear piercing scream tore through the building, causing the young mutant's head to pound. He fell on the floor, unable to get up, as the scream tore through his ears, making him feel like his head was about to explode. He recognized the source of the sound, of course. It was one of the New Recruits (the NEWER recruits that is) a kid called Banshee. Despite the searing guilt which went through him, bobby couldn't help but feel relieved at the fact that the H.Y.D.R.A dudes had gotten to Banshee. The screams were the perfect signal to warn everyone, and to help get them out of here on time.

Suddenly, the screams fell silent, as the sound of a bullet being fired rang through the hallway.  
>Bobby's eyes widened. They just SHOT Banshee! The kid was no more than ten years old! How could someone just do that? Bobby suddenly felt a throbbing sensation in his neck. He felt his eyes go heavy, as he gingerly fingered the spot where a bulled had just made its mark. Then, everything went black.<p>

**CASSIE'S P.O.V:**

The loud sound of gunshots, and screams filled her ears, as Cassie walked back up to the mansion. The sound of choppers nearby weren't helping either.  
><em>What was going on?<em>

She pulled out her sword, disguised as a hairclip, and carefully sipped behind a tree. Silently skidding up its branches, she began to leap from tree to tree (on the branches of course), at unthinkable speed. Speed that not even Quicksilver could reach. Carefully stopping at a tree where she could easily get a good view, without being spotted, she scurried up into the tree, even higher, so she was concealed by the leaves.

Her eyes widened. Men, clad in black, ran everywhere, with the words H.Y.D.R.A carefully stitched proudly on their chests. They carried the bodies of unconscious mutants and half-bloods, and a couple appeared to be dead already. She bit her lip. This wasn't good. Not at all.

She suddenly heard a branch crunch from below her.  
>Already set to go, she leapt out of her tree, sword in hand, and pinned a black clad figure to the wall. He pulled out a gun, and aimed it at her forehead. Growling, she released him – just as the bullet fired. Nearly falling over, she angrily threw her sword towards him, pinning him to the wall, and spun around. Spinning back around again, she struck her leg out, whipping him in the face. The dude went limp, as he sunk into unconsciousness.<p>

Her knees buckled, as she felt the bullet take its toll on her. Her legs felt like Jell-O, as she stumbled, crashing to the ground. The world seemed to go all fuzzy, as her head began spinning.  
>Everything went black.<p>

**ERICA'S P.O.V:**

Erica stared at Rhodey, as he sat across her from the dining room table, eating dinner. "Hey, Uncle Rhodey, would you possibly be able to tell me –"  
>"NO." Rhodey's calm, yet monotone response cut through Erica's question like a knife. "I'm NOT telling you where Tony is, or what he's doing. You've already asked me twenty times in the past hour, and my answer is never going to change." he focused on playing around with his lasagna.<br>Erica growled. "Fine." and continued angrily shoveling her lasagna into her mouth. She glared at Rhodey, who in return, glared at her as well.  
>Leo gulped uncomfortably, appearing to be freaked out by the staring contest. <p>

After that wonderful conversation, she headed into her room, and collapsed into her bed.

She entered dream-land much faster than expected.

**(In her dream)**

In her dream, Erica found herself in the body of someone she recognized pretty well. Travis Stoll, her occasional partner in crime, and business partner (when it came to smuggling junk food into Camp). Travis looked horrible. He had blood gushing out of his mouth, and cuts running down his face. His shirt was torn, and tattered, and he appeared to be weak with exhaustion… **  
><strong>

**TRAVIS'S P.O.V:  
>(A.I.M AND H.Y.D.R.A HEADQUARTERS) (this also happens to be part of Erica's dream)<strong>

Blood trickled out the side of Travis's mouth, as he felt himself get slammed against the wall. The scientist dudes were running some sorts of tests on them, and guess who was in the first batch? Yeah, you guessed it.

This one seemed to involve durability, how much pain he could handle.  
>He let out a scream as he felt a burning sensation course through his body.<br>Electrocution.  
>The guy help up his crowbar, and slammed it against his back. Travis let out a shaky wheeze, as he let out a mouthful of blood.<br>"Test subject appears to have collapsed lung." a lady in a white lab coat announced, from her seat behind glass windows.  
>Well, that explains the blood he's coughing up.<p>

The guy slammed his crowbar against Travis's face, causing his head to throb wildly, as blood oozed out the fresh gash on his face.  
>Now exhausted, Travis was too tired to even scream. He suddenly noticed a woman enter his cell, her eyes gleaming evilly. She jerked her wrist, and a searing pain ripped through his body. Travis screamed wildly, as the crowbar repeatedly slammed against his face and back. The electrocutions ran to enhance the effect.<br>Travis could feel himself slipping away from reality, as he felt himself go lip with pain. Darkness took over.

**ERICA'S P.O.V:**

Erica let out a scream, as she sat upright in bed. So, that seemed to explain why her dad had left. And what he hadn't told her and what Rhodey refused to tell her. She remembered seeing half-bloods and mutants she knew in different cells around Travis, being beaten senseless. Though the question was – why?  
>What had happened?<p>

Erica grabbed her utility belt, and began fingering it carefully. She began stuffing it with all the pistols she could find.  
>Something was up, and she was going to find out one way or another.<p>

Sneaking into her dad's workshop had been surprisingly easy. Stuffing random supplies, including potato chips and other snacks Tony kept in his tool shed (don't ask), she stared at her now full knapsack and utility belt.  
>She was ready.<p>

**LEO'S P.O.V:**

Leo awoke to the sound of someone slapping him in the face.  
>Hard.<p>

Opening his eyes, he stared at Erica, her arms crossed, a knapsack slung over her shoulder.  
>"Good, you're up." she smirked.<br>"What's going on?" Leo let out a loud yawn, then a sneeze, and rubbed his eyes. Oh how he hated having a cold.

Once Erica had explained the situation and her dream to him, Leo had fully gotten himself awake. "So now what?" he asked, twiddling his thumbs.  
>"We leave for a little excursionrescue mission, and that's pretty much it." Erica said slowly, as if Leo were a six-year-old.  
>"THAT'S your master plan?" Leo asked with awe in his voice. Erica nodded. Leo burst out laughing – only to have her punch him in the arm.<p>

"WHAT?" Erica hissed furiously.  
>"We can't just leave now with THAT little information." Leo said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "We need to know where the half-bloods and mutants are, as well as WHAT exactly happened. The fact that your dad and the other Avengers are on the case isn't exactly stable info."<p>

Erica pouted, clearly realizing his point, as she tried masking her surprise at Leo's display of intelligence. Heck, she was probably surprised that he HAD any intelligence. Most people usually forgot that as well, so he wasn't blaming her. He was just plain old Valdez, just there for the jokes and a toy for humiliation. Not much else they cared about. Masking his feelings, Leo put his fake "everything is JUST fine smile".

"So what DO we do?" Erica said, interrupting his thoughts.  
>Leo paused for a moment. "We wait," he said slowly "and try to get more information. And THEN, we leave."<br>Erica scowled, clearly understanding his plan. "But we need to get there FAST." she insisted. She clearly looked like she was in a hurry. Leo understood that feeling, he had it too. Harley had been with the X-Men, at the mansion. If he was there with the other captured half-bloods and mutants…  
>A painful thought struck him, and he angrily balled his hands into fists.<br>If they had HURT his little brother…

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO HOW DID Y'ALL LIKE IT? PLEASE REVIEW PEOPLE, IT SHOWS THAT YOU CARE & GIVES MRE THE STRNGTH TO KEEP ON WRITING. TO ANYONE WHO CARES, I'LL BE UPDATING THIS STORY BEFOR I LEAVE (NEXT WEEK) – IF POSSIBLE. IF NOT, YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT TILL APRIL.  
>PLEASE REVIEW!<br>PLEASE REVIEW!  
>OH AND I DEDIATE THE LEOERICA BIT TO KAY-EM-ZEE :D  
>ALSO,<br>PLEASE REVIEW!**

**- NINJA DAUGHTER OF HERMES **

**  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING – EXCEPT MY OC'S!**

**LEO'S P.O.V:**

Later the next day, Leo couldn't help but feel the painful sensation rise up in his gut, every time he thought of Harley and his other siblings. Not to mention Jason and Piper. If Jason had managed to have gotten captured as well, well that would mean doomsday was near. If JASON, a guy ten times BETTER than him had gotten captured – Leo didn't stand a chance. How was he going to go on a freaking RESCUE MISSION? He bitterly shook his head, as the teacher droned on about the importance of something in writing. He felt a hand slip over his hand, the one he had been absent-mindedly drumming his desk with.

Lifting his gaze, his eyes met Erica's deep violet ones. They were filled with concern and worry – a look he had never seen Erica give ANYONE before. Heck, it had been years since anyone had felt any concern or worry for HIM.  
>"You okay?" Erica asked, shattering Leo's train of bitter thoughts. She squeezed his hand, as if she knew all the bitter thoughts that were running through his head.<p>

Leo cracked a bitter smile, an attempt to hide his pain. "Yeah." he said, waving a hand as if he were the most care-free person alive. "Just can't wait to start building stuff when I get home." he slapped his forehead. "I mean Mr. Stark's house. No, I mean your house! I mean both of your houses! Not that I mean you live in separate houses! You know what I mean!" Leo pulled his hair in frustration, while Erica cocked up an eyebrow, her lips pulled up in a sight smirk.

The gaping wound in his chest deepened, as Leo remembered. He had NO home. No where he could say he belonged. Not even Camp. Even though he had lived there, even if he had all his brothers and sisters, there wasn't really anyone who truly knew him.  
>Except for little Harley. Sweet, innocent, little Harley, who could very well be dead by now. All because of him. If he had just BEEN there for him…<br>Erica rolled her eyes, and continued taking down notes, completely oblivious to all the pain and sorrow masked behind that crazy smile.  
>No ever knew.<br>No one even cared.

**ERICA'S P.O.V:**

To say that she knew that Leo was fine would be a lie. Erica was VERY aware that something was wrong.  
>But what?<p>

Erica noticed it, the way he kept his body in that tense, yet stiff position, the way the pain in his eyes refused to melt away. She gave one last worried look at him, and began to continue scribbling down notes.  
>Or at least act like she was.<p>

In truth, she was currently doodling pictures of everything under the sun. Anything to help wipe away her stress. Something was up – she just didn't know what.

**CASSIE'S P.O.V:**

Cassie let out a loud moan, as she snapped her eyes open. They bore into a pair of familiar ones.  
>Pietro Maximoff's to be exact.<br>She let out a scream, and in an instant pulled out her sword from her hair (which had magically returned), and pinned him to the wall, the sharp blade pressed against his throat.

Pietro made a choking sound, as he gasped for air. His eyes were wide with – not fear, but instead interest. And a hint of admiration.  
>"You okay?" he choked, smirking. "I found you like this, just to clarify any fears over us boys and one girl kidnapping a pretty X-geek like you."<br>True to his word, the Brotherhood (Toad, Blob, Scarlet Witch, Boom-boom and Avalanche) appeared from behind him. Immediately, she released her grip on him. She already knew he wasn't lying. Being an expert liar, she could easily tell when someone was lying. And as cocky and arrogant this guy was – he wasn't lying.

But what was the BROTHERHOOD doing on the manor's grounds?  
>Most likely vandalism again, judging from all the spray cans under the bed..<p>

So instead, she transformed her sword back into a hairclip, and crossed her arms. Judging from the body postures, the girl didn't trust her, the Toad didn't like her, and neither did Blob. Quicksilver – it was hard to tell. Tabitha didn't really seem to care, as she was currently opening yet another bottle of nail-polish.

"I guess you want to now what happened." Cassie said coolly. Everyone looked at her expectantly. Letting out a sigh, Cassie began to explain… ****

**TONY'S P.O.V:  
><strong>

Tony stumbled into the room, his suit already on. Pushing the door open, he slipped on sis signature playboy smirk, an apology for being late. "Stark." Hulk growled, glaring daggers as he stood up. "Where were you?"  
>"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Tony smirked sheepishly, while making sure the suit was ready for action in case everyone tried to kill him. "I kind of got caught up with Erica, and uh, I might have tried to kill Valdez."<br>Everyone stared at him. "What?" Tony asked innocently, holding his hands up in self defense.

Nick rolled his eyes, muttering something about overprotective fathers and how Tony was the least likely one to go overboard, and slammed a hand on the holographic image projector. "This," he said calmly "as you all know is the 'X-Mansion', otherwise known as Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Last night, we had a break in at the school – which turned out to be a kidnapping. Our friends from H.Y.D.R.A and A.I.M decided to pay a visit, and had kidnapped oh ALL the people in the mansion." He paused to take a gulp of his coffee. It was a well known fact that Nick Fury was as addicted to coffee as Tony was to alcohol. The two were inseparable.

"Which brings us to another problem." Nick said darkly, his face hardened. "We have a mole."

That's when all hell broke loose. Clint went crazy and began ratting out the list of people he thought were the mole. Cap' went on his stupid "teamwork" campaign, and began ranting on how it would be better to not go crazy looking for a mole, how it would tear everyone apart (yada yada). Then, Clint began accusing Natasha, going on about how she must be back with her "homies" at H.Y.D.R.A. Then Natasha began yelling back at him, with Cap' continuing his campaign for peace in the background. Thor butted in, and began insisting that the mole would pay, and started ranting on about how he would kill them (in painful detail), while Hulk simply sat there, glaring at everyone, his hands balling into fists.

"ENOUGH!" Hulk roared, slamming his fist on the table. Nick gave the big guy a look of gratitude, and walked up to the front of the room. "None of you are the mole." Nick sighed, rubbing his eyes. "It's S.H.I.E.L.D. Someone's been passing info to their buddies at A.I.M, and H.Y.D.R.A, and they managed to let the location of the children leak through."  
>Tony could've sworn he'd heard a touch of discomfort in Nick's tone. Discomfort at having to admit one of his oh so precious agents was a traitor.<br>Go figure.

"So what do we do now?" Clint broke the uneasy silence, while he uncomfortably fingered his bow – something he tended to do whenever he got nervous. Oh, right. He was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent – or he used to be.  
>"We need to figure out the exact location of the children." Nick said. That caught Tony by surprise. "You mean you don't KNOW?" He asked in awe. Okay, S.H.I.E.L.D the organization which had files on every flipping citizen in the country didn't know.<br>Not a good sign.

**CASSIE'S P.O.V:  
><strong>

Quicksilver kept his face clear of all emotion, following the example of the other members of the Brotherhood, and listened intently as Cassie explained all the occurrences of the previous night. As he and the other brotherhood members left the room for a "meeting", the door shut behind them. Filled with curiosity, Cassie walked up to the wal, and pressed her ear against it.  
>She heard nothing.<br>Judging from the footsteps growing farther and farther away, they were going to talk downstairs. 

A thought suddenly hit her, consuming Cassie with fear. If they still thought SHE was an X-man – didn't that kind of put her in deep water? Considering how Logan and everyone had raged about her day hanging out with them, the Brotherhood weren't exactly saints. What if they would ask her to join?  
>She shook her head.<br>As if.

But the hostility wouldn't be fun.  
>Besides, she had a family to look for.<p>

Opening the window near the bed she had slept on, Cassie peered down below. Not that far.  
>Walking back, she ran towards the window. Sprinting to the windowsill, she planted her foot on it for half a second, and sprang up. Now in the air, she did a summersault, and grasped the telephone pole. Swinging her body around it, she landed on the top of Lance's jeep, having not made a single sound.<br>All done in less than a second, thanks to her speed.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she began to run, praying to her father, that for once in her life, he would listen.

**ERICA'S P.O.V:**

Leo gave Erica a nervous look, as she dragged him down into her dad's lab. "Uh, Erica, you sure about this?"  
>Erica waved her hand. "Affirmative. No one will ever know."<br>Leo gulped in the background, as she walked down into the lab.****

As usual, empty potato chips bags lay all over the desk, and empty bottles of Tony's favorite drinks sat beside the various coffee mugs. There were also a couple of blueprints that Tony had carelessly forgotten about, which now lay all over the floor.  
>"Well, this looks really –" Leo started.<br>"Glorious?" Erica cut Leo off with a snort. "I know right?"  
>Leo picked up a blueprint lying on Tony's desk, his eyes filled with interest.<br>Erica slapped his hand, and snatched the blueprint out of his hand. "No touch." she snapped.

Leo dropped his head in shame. But Erica didn't really care. "You're going to do what I brought you here to do. Nothing else." she said calmly, heavily breathing as she tried to contain her anger. NO ONE touched her stuff – or her dad's – without permission. Especially her dad's work. Heck, Tony would slaughter Leo, by throwing him into a blender, and turning him into puréed, baking him into a (burnt) pie (with extra heat), electrocuting the pie, and then planting a bomb into that pie to make it explode. All that, plus an evil scientist grin on Tony's face.  
>Leo shrugged his shoulders, as Erica pushed him towards her dad's throne, a.k.a his desk. Grinning like a kid on Christmas, Leo began to furiously type into the computer, trying to hack in. After a couple of minutes, he did a fist pump. Erica felt joy rush through her. Finally! No matter how hard she had tried, she could never hack into her dad's computer. But Valdez had somehow managed to do it. "How'd you do it?" Erica asked suspiciously, leaning against one of her dad's cars.<p>

"Magician never tells." Leo tried doing the Bat-Glare – but failed. Shaking her head, Erica began opening the files on the computer, looking for info regarding the missing kids.

"You're kidding me." she said in disbelief about an hour later. "They're in CANADA?" she uncomfortably clenched her hand into a fist, the other fingering her scar, remembering her failed quest. Leo seemed to be aware of the hard look she was trying to mask, and his body stiffened uncomfortably.  
>Leo slammed a hand on the table. "I'm leaving tonight." he announced, shutting the computer off. "Tell your dad I never came home."<br>Wait – what? "Why the rush?" Erica said.  
>Leo looked up at her, tears visible in his eyes. "My little brother is there. If he can barely escape a monster, I doubt he'll live through ONE experiment, let alone dozens."<br>"Well, I'm going too." Erica said confidently.

Leo looked up at her, a smirk playing on his face. "Why? You barely lived through your first quest – heck you flipping DIED – and now you want another round? I doubt you'll make it past the border without going back into _damsel in distress _mode." he let out a harsh laugh.  
>Ouch.<br>That hurt, like a LOT.

Erica refused to show any sign of faltering. "Maybe that's why I want to go." she snapped. "I need a chance to prove myself again – and this is it."  
>Leo shook his head, smiling coldly as he stood up, and grabbed his packed knapsack – ready for the journey. He spun around, and began to walk towards the stairs.<br>"Besides," Erica continued, grabbing his arm. She yanked it hard, and pulled him back towards her. She noticed Leo rub his sore wrist from where she'd grabbed him. "I recall that quest being YOUR second chance at proving yourself. You know, considering how you were the damsel in your first quest. And you failed on that SECOND chance as well. If I were you, I wouldn't be talking."

Leo clenched his hands into two perfect fists.  
>Okay, so maybe that was a bit too harsh. But she had to get her point across somehow. Leo spun back around, and stopped. Picking up a bag, he threw it towards Erica. "Fit as many stuff as you can." he said bluntly. "We need to have a light load. I don't need you slowing me down."<p>

**LEO'S P.O.V:**

Okay, so maybe he'd been a little harsh. But he had to get his point across somehow. Anything to keep Erica from tagging along.  
>Anything to keep her safe.<p>

He was still a little shaken up from his dream. In his dream, he had seen Erica, all beaten up and bloody looking. He just knew that this would be the outcome of the quest if she came along. But NO, he just HAD to have a weakness. Saying "no" to Erica of all people was like receiving a death sentence. And now he was going to regret that "yes". 

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE REVIEW! OH, AND I'M NOT UPDATING UNTILL LIKE MID-APRIL-ISH 'CAUSE OF, WELL REASONS. PEACE OUT AND PLEEZ REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AYTHOR'S NOTE: Hi Earthlings!  
>DISCLAIMER:<br>NINJA: YO Jarvis, mind doing the disclaimer for me?  
>JARVIS: It would be my pleasure Miss. Ninja.<br>NINJA: (Grins in a psychotic manner)  
>JARVIS: Ninja Daughter of Hermes does not own P.J.O, Avengers, X-Men Evolution, X-men the Movie, THE JOKER or anything else in this story – except her OC's.<br>NINJA: THANK YOU J.A.R.V.I.S**

**CHAPTER four  
><strong>  
><strong>LEO'S P.O.V:<strong>

They

had been driving for more than an hour now, when the stupid fever had started to wear him down. Leo's eyes began to flutter and everything went dark…  
>A shrilling screech hit his ears, and his eyes snapped open. His body jerked forward as he spun the car back onto the road (and away from falling into the ditch), and hit the brakes.<br>Panting, he lifted a shaky arm to wipe of the beads of sweat on his forehead. Leo suddenly noticed Erica had her hands squeezing the one he still had on the wheel. Her face was drained of all color and she was panting heavily.

Leo gulped. "Wh-what happened?" he squeaked his voice shaky and high-pitched.  
>He cringed. His voice was so not in the macho zone right now. Erica's eyes were still heavy with sleep. "I think you dozed off for a second, and then you took us off the road, and I-I think we were going to fall into the ditch back there." she let out a shaky breath as she ran a hand through her dark hair.<p>

Leo angrily slammed his head against the steering wheel.  
>Stupid!<br>How could he have been so stupid? (!)  
>They could have DIED!<br>He slammed his head against the wheel again and again until his head began throbbing. Lifting his head, he noticed Erica staring at him like he was the Joker.

"Are you honestly _well_?" Erica squealed her eyes as wide as the moon.  
>"Uh, I MIGHT have been dropped on my head when I was a toddler by my evil babysitter, back when I climbed onto the roof and she told me to jump to show that I was brave, but besides that I'm perfectly fine." Leo said stupidly. Pure awkward silence flooded the car they had stolen from Happy. Awkwardly feeling stupider than ever, Leo realized the car wasn't moving even though he had taken his foot off the brakes…<p>

(TIME-SHIFT)

Turns out they had a flat tire, AND the car had run out of gas. How utterly stupid of them to drag out a car which had its tank more than two-thirds empty.

Erica growled. "What?" Leo snapped. Normally he never was the time to get all bitchy like it was he was a girl on her time of the month, but being up from three-thirty in the morning because of a nightmare isn't fun. Did he mention the fact that he had the nightmare LAST night?  
>"Do you see how DARK it is?" she snapped, gesturing outside. "HOW are we going to walk in this comforting atmosphere?"<br>"I've got your back and you've got mine. So don't sweat it." Leo bluntly said as he continued walking, Erica trailing beside him. It wasn't until her tightened his grip on Erica's hand, did he notice he was holding it. Erica squeezed it back in return.

She remained silent as they walked on.  
>"I say we catch a bus," Leo said "to take us up north until we can get better route of getting to Canada."<br>"And then?" Erica's question caught Leo off guard.  
>"Uh, I really don't know." he confessed sheepishly. "But hopefully we'll be fueled with a couple of dreams to help fix the puzzle."<br>Erica raised her eyebrows at Leo. "Really?" she shook her head. "THAT is the plan? We are so gonna DIE."  
>"Gee how encouraging." Leo snapped sarcastically.<br>Erica smirked at him. "You're welcome."

**ERICA'S P.O.V:  
><strong>As they walked on, Erica couldn't help but feel awkward with her hand within Leo's grasp, yet she somehow felt, well, SAFE. Although she truly had to be insane to trust her life in the hands of the crazy Latino. But she was beginning to second-guess that idea… She shook her head. NO! She had to focus, FOCUS! One chance to prove herself – she couldn't mess up.

Walking into what seemed like a parody of a forest; Erica realized they had just entered a park. Why a parody? Because it was ridiculously small and polluted. And this was where all the annoying adults she met at charity functions went to "get close with nature". Nothing like a park which was made by cutting down trees ay? (YES I am Canadian AND NO we do NOT use AY a LOT!) A _private_ park filled with litter and a shopping mall.  
>"Uh, Leo?" Erica asked uncertainly. "Why are we –?"<br>"We need a place to sleep, remember?" Leo tapped his fingers to his temples to emphasize his point.  
>Oh right. Sleep.<br>Erica self-consciously rubbed her dark circles.  
>The one thing she had been trying her best to avoid.<br>How fun. But, as always, she had a chance to negotiate.  
>"Wait," Erica said slowly "Is it even safe? What about the car?"<p>

Leo face-palmed. "You honestly don't expect us to walk ALL the way back to the car so we have somewhere nice and cozy to sleep, right? Because then we'd have to walk this ENTIRE distance AGAIN. It took more than an hour to get here."  
>Erica pretended to uneasily look around, but it turns out it wasn't exactly that hard. She really WAS scared. Leo somehow noticed (thankfully), but instead of changing his mind as planned and decide that they move on, he firmly grasped Erica's hand.<br>"Hey, I've slept in tons of parks before while on the run. Trust me its safe. And if it's not," he squeezed her hand "just remember I've always got your back."

And with that Leo sat on the ground, and leaned against a tree, and closed his eyes, completely at ease. Erica simply stood there – frozen. Leo snapped his eyes open, and patted to a spot on the ground beside him. "What?" he asked.  
>Okay, so Erica had never been camping in her life, much less sleep on the ground.<p>

Slowly, she sat down, and leaned against the same tree as Leo, and closed her eyes. "Keep your distance or I will shoot you, after I leave your manhood at the mercy of a pack of wild wolves." Erica said bluntly with her eyes closed.  
>"Yes m'aam." Leo gulped.<br>Erica fell asleep instantly.

Erica's eyes snapped open, and she found herself unable to place where she was. That's when everything came flooding back at her. She was in the park of course. The funny thing was that she could've sworn her head was on a pillow. Because it was on something soft. Erica felt something heavy on top of her head. Looking up, she realized it was Leo's chin on top of her hair/head. As for the pillow? She just realized her head was on top of Valdez's chest. And that she apparently has a tight grip on his curly hair, which was in a tight fist of hers. Releasing Valdez's curly locks, Erica leaned away from him.

Awkwardly getting up, she ran a hand through her hair. Okay, so this was to be one of those things she would never speak of in life. Letting out a sigh, she kicked Leo to wake him up.

As they both walked on, Erica couldn't help but get the awkward feeling they were being watched. Okay, so maybe she was getting paranoid. But maybe she really was being followed…  
>"OW!" Leo yelped.<p>

"What?" Erica snapped. She looked down at Leo's hand she had been sub-consciously holding with a death grip, and must have squeezed during her paranoia moment. She released Leo's hand from her prison. "Sorry."  
>Leo's eyes suddenly widened.<br>"WHAT?" Erica asked, terrified.  
>"Your hair! It's hideous!" Leo screeched.<br>Erica proceeded to kicking him in the shins. Hard.

Leo squealed out in pain, but suddenly froze as the sound of a twig snapping hit their ears. "You hear that?" he whispered cautiously.  
>Erica grabbed hold of both of her pistols. "You bet I did." she said slowly.<br>Leo's hand lit itself ablaze, while the other pulled out his hammer. "You ready?" he asked.  
>Erica nodded.<p>

"You really suck at this game." a female voice chirped tauntingly. Leo instantly doused the flames on his hand, and slipped his hammer back into his tool belt. "It's okay." he whispered to Erica. Erica tightened her grip on her guns anyways, and pointed them into the direction where the voice had come from.

"Finally realized how mush you loved me?" he continued, holding his arms out wide. An arrow came out of nowhere pinning Leo to the tree behind him. A girl emerged from the trees, followed by a large group of teenaged girls trailing behind. They each had their bows drawn, arrows ready to be released, but the girl with the spiky black hair (who seemed to be the leader) just glared at Leo, but it was obvious she meant no harm.  
>"Stand down girls." the leader said bluntly, staring at Erica with strange interest.<p>

(SCENE CHANGE!)

Okay, so it turns out the Hunters of Artemis had apparently bumped into them, while on one of their hunting trips. Thalia (THE THALIA sister of JASON GRACE) smirked at Leo, and then at Erica. "So, what brings you guys here?"  
>Leo's eyes widened. "WAIT. They never told you guys?"<br>Thalia frowned. "Told us what?"

Leo took a deep breath. "Camp was attacked, demigods got taken to safety at X-mansion, X-Mansion got broken into, all kids got captured, we're going to rescue them, but our car got a flat tire and ran out of gas, so we were hoping to walk up to a bus or something, and think of other means to get to Canada, where we'll try to figure out what to do and where/how to find the kids." he said the entire paragraph – all in one breath.

Thalia blinked with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Say WHAT?" Leo opened his mouth to explain again, but Erica put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "How about I explain, 'kay? Just us girls. You can go take a hike or something."  
>A couple of the Hunters – no ALL of them – snickered at Erica's "pep" talk with Leo.<br>Leo simply stared at her awkwardly – something which got her confused, as she couldn't figure out what his expression meant. He gave Erica one last look, before he turned around and walked off. "I'll be back in a hour." he said, not bothering to look around.

(SCENE CHANGE!)

Thalia's expression changed into an expressionless one, as she took in what Erica had just said. "So, I guess you're gonna swoop in to save the day, huh?" she said, her voice sounding flat.

"Yeah." Erica replied bluntly, willing the earth to devour her, and shield her from Thalia's penetrating eyes.

That's when Leo came immediately diverted her attention to Leo.  
>"We'll accompany you guys to your destination." she announced. SAY WHAT?<br>"SAY WHAT?" Erica blurted out. Thalia stared at her. "Look, I – WE – want to help, but of course we have certain, uh, restrictions, but the least we can do is accompany you to your destination to make sure you don't kill yourselves halfway through your journey." Leo and Erica immediately shot each other a look of silent questioning. "Fine." they replied together, after a long time of staring at each other, and then coming to a silent agreement. Thalia blinked. "You guys do that a lot?" she asked. "Because a) it's weird, and b) you're creeping me out."

As she tried setting her fire up for the tenth time that day – Erica failed, AGAIN. She simply let out a loud growl, and then a scream, kicked the firewood, and sat down. "I hate this!" she yelled. She immediately envied the others who had already started their fires and were asleep. Only Leo, Thalia, and a couple of the Hunters who were more experienced, were awake. They had decided to plan their route/journey today, and begin traveling tomorrow. And as Erica knew nothing about traveling – so here she was.

As she sat even longer, Erica felt her eyes go all droopy, and felt weary with exhaustion. Before she knew it, her eyes had snapped shut, and everything had gone black…

She was staring at a familiar looking kid – only he didn't look so familiar. His hair was sticking up in odd places, his clothes were tattered and ripped, and bruises lay all over his face. There was and ugly gash on his cheekbone, and his body seemed limp from exhaustion. "Hey!" he yelled frantically. "Is this thing working? Hello? HELLO? _Hello? HELLO?_"  
>Erica simply stared at him stupidly, not sure of what was going on. That's when her memory snapped, and she recognized the boy. It was Clovis, from the Hypnos cabin. "CLOVIS?" She shrieked. He looked so… different. Clovis had lost weight, and was now a twig. He actually had DARK CIRCLES under his eyes! "What happened? Where are you guys? Are you all alive?"<p>

Clovis looked behind him nervously, as a loud crash hit Erica's ears. "Look, YOU are apparently the only one I could contact, as it's easier to do it on a weaker demigod –"  
>"HEY!" Erica yelled angrily. Clovis shot her a dirty, yet angry look. "The POINT is, I don't have much strength left. None of us do. I still can't believe the younger ones are alive. A couple of kids escaped the mansion – we need you to find them, as THEY are fit for the job." OUCH. RUDE much?<br>Still, Clovis continued. "We're somewhere in Quebec City – that's all I can tell. How? I can't go on the details because we don't have enough time, and I'm running out of strength." A loud crash came from behind him, and Erica heard a lock being opened.

Clovis's eyes widened wildly. "Just get the escaped kids!" he screamed, as the dream began to go fuzzy. "But be careful! There's –" An arm came out of nowhere, grabbing his neck.

Erica's eyes snapped open. Immediately, as if automatically, she ran out of her tent, and into the one next door. Thalia, Leo, and the two Hunters who were staring venomously at Leo, were both looking over a bunch of maps, and had a mug of coffee in their hands. They all stood up as Erica ran into the tent. The Hunter (Phoebe or something) pointed at Leo. "That _MAN _is a filthy pig, who is a disgrace to men everywhere! He is a –" (insert swearing sentence of choice here, along with a bit of dirty Greek swearing RIGHT here!)

Erica ignored her, even though she was perplexed at what stupid move Leo had made THIS time to get a girl. "Guys," she said breathlessly "I had a dream." Thalia looked at her with curiosity. "AND?" she asked.  
>"I got a message from a kidnapped demigod." Erica said.<br>Leo sprayed out the mouthful of coffee that was in his mouth.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: SORRY I COULDN'T UPDATE FOR SOOO LONG! I WS ON VACATION FOR 3 WEEKS, CAME BACK AND GOT BOMBARDED WITH HOMEWORK AND TESTS! I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO TYPE. PLEASE REVIEW. AND, UH, I'M NOT SURE IF I SHOULD CONTINUE THIS STORY. ISN'T IT GETTING KIND OF BORING FOR YOU? I DUNNO, I'M THINKING OF DISCONTINUEING IT. LEAVE SOME ADVICE IN A REVIEW PLEASE! WELL, IF YOU DON'T WHAT THIS AS THE "THE END" OF THIS STORY, JUST LET ME KNOW IN A REVIEW, OR P.M MESSAGE. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I regret to inform you that I am out of juice. I can't write about this anymore - I am out of ideas. So, i shall have abandon/discontinue this story. I am sorry for those of you who ACTUALLY LIKED my story (fangirl moment of giddyness) but i'm sorry - i'm stuck, so ya. BUT, for those who watched the Avengers movie, i have a new fanfic you can check out - which will contain spoilers.**


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